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Who Do You Want Jesus or Barabbas?
Mark 15:6-15
 
I have been following the controversy over Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ with interest, so I was anxious to read Rick Groen’s review of the film Mr. Gibson’s stated goal was to provide an accurate film depiction of the last days of Christ’s life based on the Biblical account.
That is why Mr. Groen’s criticisms of the film seem so strange.
Most of the things on Mr. Groen’s "wish list" didn’t happen according to the Biblical account.
He faults Mr. Gibson for the manner in which he depicts Jesus as being divine, which is how the Bible portrays Him.
He faults Mr. Gibson for portraying Christ’s beatings and Crucifixion as violent and gory, which is no doubt accurate.
He faults Mel Gibson for not portraying Christ as weak and vacillating and struggling with His identity, which is not the Christ of the Bible.
After reading the review, I came to the conclusion that, as with most works of literature adapted to a movie, if you don’t like the book you probably won’t like the movie either.
This morning I want to share with you the story of Jesus and Barabbas, and this is apparently a very significant story because it is found in all four of the gospels.
Its other locations are Matthew 27:15-26, Luke 23:13-25, and John 18:39-40.
The story of Jesus and Barabbas is one of substitution.
If you have ever had a substitute teacher in school then you understand what “substitution” means.
A substitute teacher is one who takes the place of the regular teacher when he or she is absent.
“Substituting” is switching places.
When Jesus died on the cross for you and me, He became our substitute.
He took our place and died for us.
A fellow by the name of Dorman Follow will said, “It was on the cross that Jesus made his substitutionary atonement for us.
But it is difficult for each of us to know what substitutionary atonement means for us personally, as a man or woman before God.
The only way we can know this is from the vantage point of the guilty criminal sentenced to death . . .
Fortunately, our Lord knew how he could engage us in learning about our atonement – he gave us the gift of Barabbas.”
The story we are going to see this morning will help us to gain a greater appreciation of the great sacrifice that Jesus made for you and me.
Mark 15:6-15 (NIV).
Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.
8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why?
What crime has he committed?”
asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.
He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
This passage presents a contrast between two men: Jesus the Christ and Barabbas.
It has been suggested that both Jesus and Barabbas lived sort of parallel lives, however it is evident from their stories that they were on different ends of the spectrum.
1.
Who Was Jesus?
The Scripture is complete with descriptions of Jesus’ purpose.
Just look at the book of John, for example.
In John 1:1 and 1:14 we discover that Jesus is God, or Lord, and that he came to walk upon the earth in human flesh.
In John 1:29, as Jesus was approaching John the Baptist to be baptized, John said, “Behold!
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
In John 3:16 Jesus is said to be God’s only begotten Son who gives eternal life to all who believe in him.
In John 11:25 Jesus stated of himself, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
And in John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus, therefore, came to this earth to take away the sins of the world and to grant eternal life to all people who believe in him.
And he did this when he, in human form, died upon the cross and he bore the penalty for our sins.
And according to Romans 6:23 the wages for our sins is death.
Jesus was able to pay the price for all of our sins because He was God, and He was perfect; He was without sin.
Many people who knew of Jesus viewed his purpose differently, based on their preconceptions.
Those who identified Him as the long awaited Messiah thought that he would take the world by force and defeat all of Israel’s enemies like King David did.
When Jesus was arrested and then questioned by Pilate, it is as if the Romans feared that Jesus was leading a rebellion.
He was questioned as to whether or not he was a Galilean (Luke 23:6), probably because there was a rebel rouser from Galilee at the time called by the name of Judas the Galilean, who had led in a revolt against the Roman Empire (Acts 5:37).
In John 18:33 we learn that Pilate questioned Jesus as to whether or not he was the King of the Jews, for there was to be no king other than Caesar.
And Jesus replied by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews” (John 18:36).
This shows that Jesus knew the Romans were thinking of him as some kind of rebel leader.
So, even though Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, to many of the people Jesus was seen as just another rebel rouser.
2.
Who Was Barabbas?
In Matthew 27:16 he is called a “notorious prisoner.”
John 18:40 says, “Now Barabbas was a robber.”
And in Mark 15:7 and Luke 23:18-19 we read that he took part in a rebellion and that he committed murder.
I read in one book that Barabbas was a political terrorist and a murderer.
He might have even been a Zealot, or a freedom fighter dedicated to getting rid of the despised Roman occupation forces in Judea.
So, Barabbas was a rebel rouser.
He was viewed the same way as many people saw Jesus.
Therefore, when Pilate was practicing the custom of releasing one of the prisoners, presented both Jesus and Barabbas to the people he was basically saying, “Do you want Jesus the rebel rouser or Barabbas the rebel rouser?”
You see, many people did not realize that Jesus was not on the same level as Barabbas.
What makes this story even more interesting is when you go back to some of the ancient manuscripts.
Michael Cortright states, “According to the United Bible Societies’ text, Matthew 27:17 reads: ‘Whom do you want me to release to you? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’” Did you catch that about Jesus Barabbas?
Cortright says that several manuscripts support the fact that Barabbas’ name was Jesus Barabbas, but upon translation the name Jesus was deliberately left out for reverential considerations.
They did not want the name Jesus used by anyone who was a sinner.
During the time Jesus was alive, “Jesus” was a common name, and it was derived from the same word form as the name “Joshua.”
Even today you will find many Latin people with the name Jesus.
So, Pilate was really asking the people, “Do you want Jesus Christ the rebel rouser or Jesus Barabbas the rebel rouser?”
Most people did not identify the difference between Jesus and Barabbas, but there was something different or they would not have been able to make a choice.
3.
What Was Different?
We already know that Jesus was God’s one and only Son who came to take away the sins of the world, but what does that really mean?
Some understanding comes in the meaning of these two names; the name Jesus Christ and in the name Jesus Barabbas.
Let’s first look at the name “Jesus Christ.”
In the Bible Dictionary I read that the name “Christ” is “the Greek translation of the Hebrew word translated ‘Messiah,’ the official title of our Lord, which denotes that he was anointed or consecrated to his great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and King of his people.”
Jesus Christ was the Son of the Heavenly Father.
Next, let’s look at the name “Jesus Barabbas.”
You have probably heard the term “abba” used before in the Bible, and you know that it means “father.”
Barabbas, literally means, “Son of a father.”
Gerrit Vos says, “Everyone in the world is in this Barabbas.
The man born of a human father . . .
I think God was thinking of Adam, the first father.
He is Adam’s son.”
Jesus Barabbas was therefore the son of sin.
Jesus was the Son of God and Barabbas was the son of sin.
Therefore, we have Jesus Christ the Son of the heavenly Father, and Jesus Barabbas the son of an earthly father.
This is where we find the significance of this story.
Let’s focus for a moment on Barabbas.
Barabbas represents all of mankind.
He is the son of Adam, just as we all are.
Adam, the first man, committed the first sin in human history and we have all been trapped in sin ever since.
Romans 5:14 tells us that since Adam all people have sinned and are stuck with the consequences of sin, which is death.
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